1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color look up table adjusting apparatus which causes a color conversion characteristic of an image forming apparatus to match or approach a characteristic desired by a user, and a recording medium on which a color look up table adjusting program is recorded.
2. Description of the Related Art
With an increase in the speed of CPUs and a decrease in the price thereof, high-end machines having high performance and versatility are becoming widespread in the field of an image forming technology.
In recent years, an increasing number of full-color printers of a new type that are superior in color reproducibility have appeared on the market. Introduction of such a new type of printer may raise demand for reproduction of the same tint as that of the color “red” expressed by a printer used before, for example. Performing a color adjustment for such a printer requires superior knowledge on chromatology. However, it is difficult for general users to cope with the situation due to lack of such knowledge.
Further, colors that may be reproduced by the printer vary depending not only upon the manufacturer, the model, the performance, and other such characteristics of the printer, but also upon the use environment and the age of the printer.
Therefore, it is necessary to closely analyze the characteristics of an image forming apparatus and to change data of a look up table (LUT) on a subject apparatus using a result of the analysis.
To solve the above-mentioned problem, there is a technology for obtaining a correspondence between a target image signal and a reproduction image signal and creating a color look up table based on the correspondence to thereby realize an association between input values to a target image device and output values therefrom by a reproduction image device.
However, when such a technology as described above is used, there is a possibility that hues may no longer be maintained. This is because the shape of a boundary plane with respect to a color gamut varies depending upon the subject image forming apparatus, a positional relationship between corresponding target image signals within a color space becomes irregular depending upon the color values thereof, and reproducibility and gradation are greatly impaired.